The Office of Environmental Management and its cleanup
contractors at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho Site,
CH2M-WG Idaho LLC (CWI) and the Idaho Treatment Group LLC
(ITG), recently completed the treatment and repackaging of
6,000 drums of radioactive and hazardous waste. The 6,000
drums represented approximately 1,200 cubic meters of some
of the most difficult waste and is part of the 65,000 cubic
meters of transuranic waste that must leave the state as
part of the 1995 Idaho Settlement Agreement. The project was
completed in a little over 18 months.

"By using our existing facilities, and with the combined
support of federal and contractor employees, CWI and ITG are
demonstrating the dedication and commitment of the Idaho
site to safely and compliantly treat and ship challenging
radioactive waste streams, " said DOE's Jim Cooper.

The waste, which was originally sent to Idaho in the
1970s from the now closed Rocky Flats nuclear weapons
production plant located near Denver, was stored at the
ITG-managed Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project. The
drums of sludge waste were then transported to CWI, where it
was emptied and sorted within a soft-sided building
constructed over the waste disposal cell known as Pit 9, but
now called Accelerated Retrieval Project V.

The steel-framed, fabric building over Pit 9 was
originally constructed in 2010. In January 2011, CWI began
removing radioactive and hazardous waste buried there since
1969. CWI completed the cleanup of Pit 9 in August 2011, a
year ahead of schedule and millions of dollars under budget.
The Pit 9 waste exhumation facility was then repurposed for
treatment of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act wastes,
which ultimately saved taxpayers millions of dollars over
the cost of constructing a new building. All 6,000 drums
were opened in the ARP V, using specially designed
excavators where operators wore protective clothing with
supplied air. The waste from the drum was successfully
treated and repackaged.

After the drums of waste were repackaged, they were sent
back to AMWTP where the drums will be re-characterized and
then shipped out of Idaho for permanent disposal. While
6,000 drums went over to CWI, more than 12,000 drums were
returned, due to the addition of absorbent for immobilizing
liquids. An additional 530 boxes of secondary waste,
consisting of the original, now emptied, drums were returned
to ITG, also for shipping to a permanent disposal site.

CH2M-WG Idaho, LLC, (CWI) is a partnership comprised
of CH2MHill and the URS Corporation that directs the Idaho
Cleanup Project at the Department of Energy's Idaho Site
located 45 miles west of Idaho Falls. The 3-year, $730
million project, funded through the U.S. Department of
Energy's Office of Environmental Management, focuses on
early risk reduction and protection of the Snake River Plain
Aquifer. For more information visit the Idaho Cleanup
Project on the Web at
https://idahocleanupproject.com

Idaho Treatment Group LLC combines three of the
world's most experienced nuclear waste-processing and
disposal companies, Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services
Group, Inc., URS and Energy Solutions Federal Services,
Inc., to manage and operate the Advanced Mixed Waste
Treatment Project, located 50 miles west of Idaho Falls.
AMWTP's mission is to safely and compliantly process and
dispose of ransuranic waste and mixed low-level waste. For
more information visit AMWTP's website at http://amwtp.inl.gov/